Content Creation, Curation and Distribution in a Web 2.0 World

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about me

Because transmedia is generating so much critical commentary in tandem with the expanding number of projects online, I’ve decided to create a wp site dedicated to following and archiving the best of transmedia today & tomorrow.

Who am I & what do I do?

In 2001, I was invited to join the faculty of the Canadian Film Centre’s Interactive Art & Entertainment Program as the story savvy gal who could bring a strong narrative focus to the cutting-edge experimentation and innovation in tech that have made the CFC Media Lab an outstanding training hub over the past 15 years. At the time I was completing a PhD in English & with the CFC embarked on a virtual second degree in communication, media, & digital media studies while mentoring interactive narrative design. Over the past twelve years, the digital landscape has changed repeatedly and the challenge has always been being ready to work with new forms & technology, outside of your comfort zone, and stay ahead of the innovation wave. The multi-disciplinary experience of being at the heart of Canada’s leading digital media training institution and with my fellow extraordinary faculty members has been a blast.

Today, I consult on digital/interactive/participatory storytelling via my company NarrativeNow, am the co-creator of the online site, TMCResourceKit.com, & co-founder of Transmedia 101, a community building & education initiative for Canadian producers moving into the digital sphere. In the university space, I am a Senior Lecturer, Canadian Studies, University College, University of Toronto, and Sessional Lecturer III in the Department of English and Drama, University of Toronto Mississauga. With the CFC Media Lab, from 2001 to 2011, I was a core faculty member with the CFC Media Lab designing the interactive narrative curriculum and I have mentored a significant number of the leading practitioners in Canada today. My research & teaching focus on how artistic works & practices across media engage with political, social & cultural concerns.

My academic research and artistic practice examine: the function, design, & experience of narrative in interactive environments; foresighting emergent trends in digital storytelling & entertainment in a Web 2.0/3.0 world; and the social benefit of interactive art for urban planning, social and cultural capital in the context of arts festivals such as Toronto’s Luminato & Nuit Blanche. Currently, I am the primary investigator on a research project, Nuit Blanche and Transformational Publics,funded by the SSHRC Insight Development Grant, with collaborator, Faisal Anwar with whom I co-founded +citydesign. +citydesign has developed and launched a data visualization app for iPhone & iPad and is now exploring data visualization as a new social art form.

In 2006/07, I was the narrative design consultant on Late Fragment, a (CFC/NFB) feature film that screened at Cannes as part of the Future of Cinema Salon. I have mentored across Canada, including the Digital Development Lab (CBC/BC Film/New Media BC), Melting Silos (NFB/SFU Praxis), and for the Sheffield Doc/Fest Design to Deliver, & the Crossover Lab/Sheffield Doc/Fest Convergence Catalyst. I have published numerous articles, given keynotes,workshops, & masterclasses around the globe on topics ranging from transmedia & crossmedia development & design, interactive/web documentaries, & disruptive innovations in Web 2.0 world. Conference presentations include events at MIT, StoryWorld SF, the NFB French Program, the CBC, the Screen Edge Forum, Auckland New Zealand, & Transmedia SG, Singapore. In 2012, I was a Jury Member for the Sheffield Doc/Fest Innovation Award 2012, twice a Juror for the Canada Media Fund’s Experimental Funding category (2012, 2013), and I am the Canadian Representative for StoryLabs, an international organization for transmedia producers. I am also a founding member and on the Advisory Board for the internationally networked Transmedia Alliance.